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The world is an absolute mess; the ME on fire in some part due to Obama’s retreat, Iran getting a guarantee on its nuclear development as long as it is in a secret underground facility with no meddling allowed by Israel, and Iran solidifying a Persian Empire with take overs of Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria, all the while pulling Obama’s chain with meaningless executive nuclear agreements, but this post is about none of that.

Periodically I look at alternatives to cable, what’s out there to fill my TV needs so I can 86 my cable provider. Live events, the ability to DVR, and my eclectic tastes always bring me back. One channel that I can’t part with is TCM. Sports, movies, and Foxnews, what else is there to watch? Maybe some netflix originals, more on that in a minute. I have always liked old movies and a unique feature of old movies is that everyone smoked. Hollywood had everyone smoking because they thought they were trailblazers, they thought smoking was admirable, that the folks would think these actors were cool and would want to watch them, but mostly they connected smoking with glamour, they were wrong.

Today smoking is out, profanity is in, they are still getting it wrong. Lately, in between March Madness Games (teaser, more on that in a bit) I have been watching the new Netflix original series Bloodline, it is really good. Without going in to specifics, it is not about guys in the military, in prison, or in gangs, it is about an ordinary family (with not so ordinary secrets) and yet every 4th word out of their mouths (all mouths, kids included) is f bombs. Not even through the first episode the smoking similarity was obvious. Does Hollywood think that ordinary folks talk like this or that ordinary folks watching this will think dialogue like this is cool or emblematic in some way? Yes, it is a minor irritant, and detracts little from the stellar quality, but why do they do it?

I don’t think I live a pampered sheltered life, but the only time that I ever hear f bombs or profanity in general is on TV, I never (hardly ever) come across it in real life. I am out and about every day interacting with my fellow earth dwellers, is Hollywood the only place where folks swear like sailors on a regular basis? Even in the blogosphere or this site for instance, writers manage to go whole paragraphs without it, why can’t Hollywood write 3 lines without any f bombs? Is it me? I predict that, just like the smoking prevalence of the old movies, when future generations looks at our current entertainment fare, quizzical expressions and scratching of heads will result when they analyze the apparent appeal of lazy speech.

In the event this post garners no interest, I admitted it was a personal pet peeve, I will hijack my own post, and ask the most important question; Can Kentucky be beaten?

Here’s the deal, I like Ted Cruz, personally, he is more like me than Obama. His conservative credentials are stellar, he is a government/spending reduction guy, big on national defense who (seemingly) understands the radical Islamist threat, understands that the world is a dangerous place made more dangerous by a limped dick American foreign presence, who genuinely believes in that “shinning city on a hill” image (not the imperialist America that causes more problems than it solves image of Obama) and who actually believes in The Constitution. Okay so far. And just yesterday he announced his candidacy for the 2016 presidential race. So why am I nonplussed by the whole affair?

Over at Hot Air there is a piece titled “9 Reasons Ted Cruz Is Exactly Like Barack Obama”. The author denies that he is trolling us, with the last sentence in the article, he exposes himself as exactly that. But the similarities are interesting.

Much has been made about how Cruz, Paul, and Rubio will have to answer the question of why Obama was considered inexperienced as a 1 term Senator, when each of them are similarly lacking. This criticism is valid, to a point. Clearly Obama’s problem is that he is Obama, would 8 years as a Senator change that? Would a couple of terms as governor of Illinois change his history of indoctrination, his America bad/fleece the rich/more government is always the answer/Constitution? We don’t need no stinking Constitution attitudes? Once a Marxist, always a Marxist, no matter how much time he served at the public trough.

But I still don’t like it, a one term Senator that has not done jack shit except vote “present” does not inspire confidence, not Obama and certainly not any of these 3. Could they make a good president? Sure, given the right moral grounding, the right understanding of where his loyalties (with the people, not his own aggrandizement) should be, the right understanding of his actual duties (and limitations) that The Constitution spells out, and with the right experts surrounding him providing advice and counsel.

Much will be made about Cruz’s religious convictions? That in itself is not a problem for me. Bush the younger was equally religious, his problem was not his faith but his spending policies. Cruz will suffer because his socially conservative views (no gay marriage, no abortion-ever, immigration-send them all back where they came from) appeal to a smaller audience. I like the fact the he is an AGW skeptic, this too will come up in debates.

Probably the biggest reason for my apathy is that it is so early and we still have 2 more years of Obama agony. No way do I want to go through the endless debates that dragged on for decades (seemingly). That and a little voice in the back of my head that admits that the dems are sneakier, more polished, more corrupt, more willing to bring a gun to a knife fight. Any GOP candidate will be at a disadvantage, in contrast not only with the lying MSM, but with the uninformed voter.

At this point I think that Cruz is unelectable, but am willing to listen to a counter argument, any takers?

The other day I wrote a post about a spectacularly despicable human being and her parking habits. Thankfully behavior like this shouts ,”Over here” because of it’s stark contrast to that realm of normalcy that most people live in and abide by. The goodness in most folks, or the sheer number of good people in relation to those that are not restores our faith in humanity and makes us proud that “Doing The Right Thing” is a common occurrence. And like the bible verse that commands givers to do so in private (to not call public attention to your “goodness” since God sees all) most “pay it forward” acts are done in secret, without fan fare, and for the betterment of one individual, one piece of humanity.

I saw this this morning, yes, it did brighten my day. Some will hit you right between the eyes. For me, I did pretty good until I got to the Shark’s Fan, then lost it.

Reminders like this helps us two ways. It shows us “But for the grace of God go I”, how lucky and fortunate we all are, but also with that grace, that good luck goes a duty to share our bounty with others. This can take many forms. Although when I see one of those “random acts of kindness and senseless beauty” bumper stickers on a Prius I have to fight off the urge to punch the driver in the nose (this is the SF Bay Area after all, more progs per square mile then any place on earth) I get the sentiment.

Group question, is anyone really surprised that there are people out there, walking and talking among us, that are so deplorable and vile, so bereft of even a minimal amount of qualification for drawing breath, and so deserving a Jacky Chan style spinning kick to the head, that their very existence is an affront to a loving and just God?

Maybe we should start a new weekly thread ,”Douche-bag of the week”, provided not only for amusement (when is someone going to clean this guy’s clock, today or tomorrow?) but as a reminder that although physical violence is not always the answer (not always, but sometimes) going out of your way to inject embarrassment and misery into the lives of society’s turds can be a noble calling.

First off, before we get a rope, it would be nice to know exactly what was in Brady’s initial note. She said it was “stern and confident”, OK, was it also snarky, insulting, and rude? Not condoning the reply, naturally, but often times, snark begats snark. Where was it left, on a broken radio antennae?

Brady should do each of these things;

1) Contact her local police dept. and advise them of the situation, I doubt there is one cop walking that, once apprised of this situation, would not drive through that parking lot 20 times a day while on duty looking for the offending car parked in the handicapped spot. Ticket and tow bill, roughly $400.
2) Take a picture of the offending car (with license plate) and post it on her facebook page, along with the name of the apartment complex and city.
3) Notify the manager of the complex of the problem. He was the one that provided the handicapped parking spot, no doubt he would want to know if other renters are parking there. In the same vain, while interacting with all the other tenants in the building, let them know what is going on. I am big on community shaming, letting all the other tenants know what kind of woman lives next to them in 14c, ahhhh, the possibilities are endless.

Just what you need in the morning with your overpriced status cup of coffee, a lecture from another Obama voter;

Here’s your overpriced pretentious specialty coffee drink, and would you like to check your white privilege with that? Apparently, Starbucks is not content with being the home to douchey hipsters pretending to be writers; they also want to be the destination for uncomfortable racial confrontations. The coffee giant is encouraging its employees to give customers crap about racism.

Here’s my question, which race do you think will get the majority of the “race together” cups, as opposed to the regular cups? And don’t you think that is inherently racist? Naturally the progs will love it, the white one’s will welcome the public flagellation , a badge of honor to exhibit empathy with the down trodden, and the minorities will welcome it as some sort of payback, like the OJ Simpson verdict.

Since I would not be caught dead in a Starbucks, my responses to this challenge is more an exercise in venting, but I can see endless possibilities of fun with this nonsense. First off, if given the offending cup a loud public display of outrage would be merited ,”Excuse me, but why did you give me this cup when the black gentleman ahead of me got a regular cup?, Are you calling me a racist? Does not “race together” matter for everyone? How are you furthering the concept of equality and tolerance by targeting (discriminating against) one race of people? Tell me, was MLK just addressing whites with his “I Have A Dream” speech, or can all people of all races do more for racial harmony? Oh, and wouldn’t you agree that Obama has proven to be the most racially divisive president in history, and that he and Holder have set race relations back 20 years?” Naturally this conversation would be held at appropriate decibels so that all the other progressives there might put away their symbolism and think about what they are applauding.

In other words, Schultz comes from a perspective that white people are racists, that cops victimize black people, and that our entire society unfairly places non-whites in a position of disadvantage. So when he says he wants Starbucks employees to engage customers in discussions on race, clearly he wants to push his guilty liberal position of “blame whitey” for everything.

I wonder if this guy sees the irony, championing the poor and the down trodden, all the while schlepping overpriced coffee and goods poor people don’t usually buy? In that respect McDonald’s is actually walking the walk, offering 1 dollar cups of coffee with free refills, and no sanctimonious cup to drink it in.

Last week there were a few here that had their eyebrows raised over the specter of a nuclear arms race erupting in the ME over the Iran deal, somehow like international agreements are crafted in a vacuum. The incredulity surprised me, and I commented that they must not be paying attention since this very brinkmanship has been front and center in the news for several months now. Sitting idly by while a belligerent and threatening neighbor gets stronger, hardly in line with self preservation;

As U.S. and Iranian diplomats inched toward progress on Tehran’s nuclear program last week, Saudi Arabia quietly signed its own nuclear-cooperation agreement with South Korea.

That agreement, along with recent comments from Saudi officials and royals, is raising concerns on Capitol Hill and among U.S. allies that a deal with Iran, rather than stanching the spread of nuclear technologies, risks fueling it.

This is so Obama, the guy that publicly made it a priority to rid the world of all nuclear weapons, starts an arms race in the ME by bumbling into an ill conceived toothless agreement with a country that is actively working towards our demise.

Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a member of the royal family, has publicly warned in recent months that Riyadh will seek to match the nuclear capabilities Iran is allowed to maintain as part of any final agreement reached with world powers. This could include the ability to enrich uranium and to harvest the weapons-grade plutonium discharged in a nuclear reactor’s spent fuel.

Several U.S. and Arab officials have voiced concerns about a possible nuclear-arms race erupting in the Middle East, spurred on by Saudi Arabia’s regional rivalry with Iran, which has been playing out in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen in recent months.

If anyone is surprised that Obama and minions could be caught so off guard, not foreseeing the inevitable, remember that for the last 6 years, every scandal coming down the pike has been addressed by this guy with ,”Hey, I just found out about it, reading the NY Times, just like you”. To think that other ME countries, watching Iranian hedgemony march onward, extending it’s sphere of influence, in what, 6 different countries now? and not feel threatened and want some firepower of their own, ludicrous.

A number of senior Arab officials have warned the White House in recent months the Saudi government could seek Pakistan’s aid in developing nuclear technologies—or even buy an atomic bomb—if it sees an agreement with Iran as too weak.

Guess what, it is too weak, here we go.

Funny, but how many times have we heard from Obama that it was “unacceptable” for Iran to have a nuclear weapons program? I guess if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan. Allowing Iran to maintain large nuclear facilities and continue enriching uranium ( no big deal since Iran would have to allow inspections, they have never cheated or disallowed prior inspections before, have they?) And this worked so well with the North Koreans, what could go wrong? No mention of limiting or even monitoring weapons development or ICMB capabilities (at least what I have read so far), no mention of extracting themselves from Syria and allowing Assad to fend for himself, no mention of their expansion and meddling into the affairs of other sovereign nations, nope, this deal has one purpose, to pad Obama’s legacy of not being a complete and total jerkoff when it comes to foreign policy.

Inspections are useless, they were useless for NK and history has proven that they are useless with Iran;

Commenting on how the inspectors have repeatedly been surprised by what Iran hides, Olli Heinonen, former deputy director-general of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, told this newspaper in 2013, “If there is no undeclared installation today . . . it will be the first time in 20 years that Iran doesn’t have one.”

Attempting to constrain bad actors with arms control and peace accords, The Carter way and now the Obama way (and Bush with NK) and all have failed miserably.

Michael Brown’s parents will file a wrongful death civil lawsuit against Ferguson, Missouri and the white police officer who shot dead the unarmed 18-year-old black man last August in the St. Louis suburb, a family attorney said on Thursday.

“There were other alternatives available to him. He did not have to kill Michael Brown,” attorney Daryl Parks said of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.

Unsated by the DOJ report, which cleared Officer Wilson of violating Michael Brown’s civil rights, the parents had to resort to plan B. The initial wording of the report was a bit tilted, basically saying “We aren’t saying Wilson acted properly, we just can’t prove that he is lying about what happened”, Gee, bias much? But at least it did put to bed that ridiculous “Hands Up” narrative.

The attorneys for Brown’s family said they did not accept Wilson’s claim of self defense, and said that the standard of proof in a civil lawsuit is different than in criminal prosecutions.

Yes, it is, and so is Wilson’s recourse in handling the suit. Now that he is a civilian, he is free to counter sue the low rent family, sue them for being crappy parents, for raising a monster, and for their neglect causing him some real pain and suffering. Damages that should be apparent to any on that jury, where do I sign up?

The City of Ferguson will settle, and I suspect that once the parents get their hands on some real dough, going after Wilson will be an after thought. No matter, he has a complaint, real standing, and easily proven damages, go after them with all the zeal the legal system can provide. Whether the parents have a pot to piss in, irrelevant, they have something, and something can be taken from them.

About an hour to go before the big show and the High School girl’s penchant for cyber bullying is in full flourish. A packed house, sans the petulant Democrats, awaits the Benjamin Netanyahu address to the full Congress. No one from the Obama Administration will be present, no State folks, no Israeli ambassador, the President can’t even be bothered to watch, butt hurt indeed.

Netanyahu went out of his way yesterday, while addressing the folks at AIPAC, to dispel any rumors of a rift between the two governments, as if. They don’t call it “diplomacy” for nothing. But the folks, both here and in Israel, know better.

How funny, the guy that threw our most valued ME ally under the bus ( or thrown them to the wolves, pick your own metaphor), the guy that started his presidency with the most wild eyed pie in the sky notion of eliminating all nuclear weapons world wide, just guaranteed every kid in the ME block going nuclear themselves.

So now we have a bad deal in the works, with the school yard bully, the same bully that continually bloodys our nose even after taking our lunch money, yet we still think that the biggest sponsor of world wide terrorism can be trusted to honor a treaty, a treaty btw that no one knows the particulars of, and with a party that has never honored treaties in the past, this is the Chicago way.

TBH, I am surprised that the Israeli AF has not taken out the Iranian nuclear factories ala Osirak, long before now. To put your very existence in the hands of Obama and his ability to deal, or in the IAEA and their inability to accurately monitor the cheaters in Tehran? Ridiculous.

Bibi will make a passioned case about the consequences, not only for Israel, but for everyone who fears a terrorists approach to nation building, and the need for real sanctions, the stick, to shape the manners of a nation who has shunned them in the past.

Obama has made this speech more than just historic, a not to be missed affair. Normally it is Boehner who gets manipulated with this type of alacrity.

As an aside, just heard that Boehner is now calling for a House vote on a clean DHS funding bill, he is such a playable light weight.

As opposed to emailing the relevant folks for status and in the interest of addressing any uncertainties as to who now has the car keys to the blog and what changes cosmetically are afoot, I thought I would post a repository, a place where those in charge can identify themselves.

The last few posts related to the subject intimated that either Thrill or Alex (or both jointly) would handle the admin duties and tackle the Herculean task of exorcising all the gremlins that have taken up residency on our blog. Not an enviable chore, but necessary. A number of good suggestions were offered up in the other post, but for now just getting the basics to work would be nice.

So far only Cress and Xetrov have volunteered to guest author, how do we get these guys author privileges? I still have the author template that Jim sent me originally, I would be glad to forward it over to both and help them get started, but they need permission from the admin guy.

On my “dashboard” to the site I have access to all the commenter’s email address. Since the PM services and the “contact” button are still busted, if anyone has questions or concerns they can shoot me an email, I have gotten a few already. I don’t mind being a buffer for admin so they don’t get overwhelmed, but since somebody needs to be “The Man”, he can come here and post anything he wants to disseminate to the group.